With the increasing severity of global warming and continuous consumption of fossil energy sources, it is the key to seek an efficient energy storage technology for deployment of future smart grids and efficient utilization of renewable energy sources. Various novel energy storage technologies have been proposed. However, limited by technical and cost factors, none of the technologies is commercially used successfully. It is known that hydrogen is the first element in the periodic table, has the highest mass-energy density, and is very suitable for use as an energy carrier. A novel energy storage technology that uses hydrogen energy as a carrier is a hot research topic in the world. At present, a hydrogen energy economy that is widely greeted by people is a green, environmental friendly, and sustainable social economy mode based on such a hydrogen energy carrier.
However, so far there are technical limitations in various hydrogen energy technologies so far and practical commercial application is still to be found. In these hydrogen energy application technologies: 1). For hydrogen production, hydrogen production technologies such as catalytic electrolysis of water, catalytic photolysis of water, and hydrocarbon steam reforming already become relatively mature, and some technologies have been successfully commercialized. 2). For hydrogen storage technologies, it is very difficult to store and further transport hydrogen gas at atmospheric temperature and pressure. Although currently there exist various technologies such as hydrogen storage using high-pressure steel cylinders, hydrogen storage using low-temperature condensation, hydrogen storage using adsorption of porous materials, and hydrogen storage using chemical hydrides, they have not been practically commercialized. 3). Finally, hydrogen energy utilization technologies, fuel cell technologies, and hydrogen internal combustion engine technologies have been studied for years, where the fuel cell technologies with relatively high energy utilization efficiency still have problems such as weak durability and a high production cost. In conclusion, atmospheric temperature and pressure hydrogen storage technologies and hydrogen energy utilization technologies (hydrogen fuel cell technologies) limit the development of hydrogen energy technologies.
Therefore, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the art to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.